Thursday, February 18, 2016

Richmond County Wills and Estates

Richmond
County Court House, Augusta, Georgia. Richmond County was formed in
1777 from St. Pauls Parish. The county seat is Augusta. One should
search Richmond and Columbia records as they overlapped. Wrightsboro
records are found in Richmond County as well as in Columbia County.
Some of their wills are recorded in this will book. Thus, here is one
place to find Quakers.

Maps were scanned in such a manner as to
provide details for locating creeks, branches, rivers, lakes, churches,
schools and cemeteries. This will enable you to better locate the old
homeplace using the description from old non-specific deeds. Also, a
convenience in locating both private and public cemeteries in the area.

While James Edward Oglethorpe was planting settlers in the Colony of
Georgia, advertisements of "so fair a land" in the Georgia colony were
being distributed throughout England encouraging settlement. Meanwhile,
Joe Rae of Maghrenock near Ballnahigh in County Down, Nova Scotia,
emigrated to South Carolina ca 1729 or 1730 and applied for extensive
land grants in Georgia because of his connections in North Ireland.
Initially, he was granted 50,000 acres for his countrymen and friends
along the Ogeechee River in Queensborough (now Burke County, Georgia),
40 miles from Augusta. After this acquistion, he commenced publishing
letters in Belfast to acquire purchasers.
John Rae was a resident of Georgia as early as August of 1741, where he
was appointed Conservator of the Peace ten years later. In 1752, he
petitioned the Georgia Trustees for 300 acres on Argyle Island on the
Savannah River and 100 acres on Pipemakers Creek. In 1755, he was
elected Representative to sit in the Assembly for Georgia at Augusta,
and a lot was granted to him at Hardwick in Chatham County. In behalf of
his settlement efforts, he petitioned for relief for building a Church
at Augusta in 1756, and received it. John Rea was very active in the
affairs of his His Majesty. He was appointed Commissioner, Collector and
Assessor in Augusta in charge of erecting forts, printed the laws,
built churches, and was charged with building barracks for the soldiers.
He selected as his homeplace 200 acres of land on Stony Creek which had
its own grist mill The site was three miles above Augusta adjoining the
lands of George Galphin. During April of 1765, he petitioned for land
originally surveyed for Isaac Barksdale to his widow, but title to those
lands were passed in the name of John Rae, Jr.

In February of 1768, he petitioned for lands on the Ogeechee River to be
reserved for three years, in hopes of getting Irish settlers there. He
printed copies of law and sent this to friends in Ireland, but the
encouragement to settle in Georgia was much less than which was
promissed to South Carolinians. In South Carolina, free passage was
provided as well as other advantages. His friends wrote that they would
come to Georgia only if their passage were paid and they had use of
lands free of expense in addition to being exempted from taxes for the
first ten years. The Georgia Trustees granted this wish in the formm of
"An Act for Encouraging Settlers to Come into the Province."
Two of his letters asking for settlers appeared in the Belfast News
in 1765. While inviting his countrymen to share in a great fortune,
guaranteeing the free use of cattle and horses for five years, he sent
100 pounds back home to educate the children of his dead brother.
Indeed, it was another brother (Matthew Rea) who had financed the
arrangements for the voyage on the Prince of Wales which sailed
with passengers during February of 1765 from Belfast, first to
Charleston, thence to Savannah. Matthew Rea was a land promotor for
America, and lived in the village of Drumbo in County Down, and was
either a small landowner or farmer. He had the means to undertake two
tours of the surrounding countryside in furtherance of his emigration
plans, acting as middleman in the emigration trade, and as agent,
working with his brother in Georgia to obtain emigrants to the Colony.

Drumbo, County Down, Ireland, "The Tower" - home of the Rea Families

As far as the land business was concerned, John Rea was described as a
scoundrel in a letter published in 1770 wherein the Georgia colony was
described as "a woeful place, a poor hole, accursed place, inhabited by a
few Irish and some run-aways from all parts of America, that John Rea
was more concerned with erecting a hedge between himself and the Indians
than with promoting the happiness of his settlers." As the ship Waddell
sailed in November of 1773, the activities of Matthew in behalf of his
brother in Georgia came to an abrupt end. There was scandal. Rea had a
negro slave, Nero, who was convicted of a felony, for breaking open a
store of rice and taking several barrels. Ten other slaves were also
discovered in the records, however there were probably a good deal more
slaves who cultivated his lands than these few. John Rae was convicted
for the manslaughter of Mrs. Ann Simpson in Savannah, but was later
pardoned. All his friends petitioned in his behalf, stating that he had
been in the province for nearly forty years and had an unblemished
character, having filled many offices of public trust. He was also a
Member of the Georgia Assembly, which was a very highly respected
position in the province. John Rae died in Augusta in 1784.

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About Me

After having researched multiple families from much has been learned about the pivotal roles which each o them played in building America. Everyone's ancestor whether in the history books or not, helped to build this country. I have probably traced over 100,000 names and am so familiar with the early colonists that I can just about open a discussion about any ancestor in the Southeast regions. If done properly, a tedious research will unfold the daily lives of each subject. I suppose that I am a fanatic now, however, an awareness of the experiences of your and my ancestors makes the history of America precious. I could sit down and talk (just about any) colonial ancestor with you. Hence, the desire to share my information with you. My researches are all heavily documented and I have discovered the intricate details which others cannot find. Jeannette Holland Austin www.georgiapioneers.com